Brussels, 26 June 2025 – A Romani father and son have won a judgment from the European Court of Human Rights against Slovakia after suffering a violent attack by the police during the first COVID-19 lockdown in April 2020 in Bardejov. The Court found that the violence used by the police officers (which included severely beating the Roma with batons, fracturing the skull of one and concussing the other) was disproportionate, and that the investigation into the police brutality and subsequent legal proceedings were inadequate. Slovakia must pay €16,500 in damages to the two Romani men plus €6,410 in legal expenses. The case was represented by the European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC).

The European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC) is now accepting applications for the Roma Rights Summer School 2025, a highly respected training programme designed to support and inspire the next generation of Romani human rights defenders. The training will take place in Athens between 4 and 12 September 2025. 

Brussels, Budapest  12 June 2025 – In a ruling delivered on 10 June 2025, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) found that Hungarian authorities had violated the rights of a Romani family by forcibly separating a mother from her newborn son immediately after birth without sufficient legal or social justification. The case, B.T. and B.K.Cs v. Hungary was brought before the Court by the affected parents with joint legal support from the European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC) and the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (HCLU). The ruling highlights the flaws in the Hungarian child protection system, which continues to disproportionately target Romani families.

Brussels, 4 June 2025: The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has ruled that an investigation into a case of police brutality against Matija Nikolić, a 17-year-old Romani boy, in 2012 was inadequate and lacked impartiality.

Brussels, Sremska Mitrovica, 27 May 2025: The Higher Court in Sremska Mitrovica today held the first preliminary hearing in the criminal case against Dr. Marko Maksimović who is accused of medical negligence, torture, and ill-treatment by committing extreme obstetric violence against 30-year-old Romani mother, Marica Mihajlović, in Sremska Mitrovica General Hospital. 

Sofia, Brussels, 27 May 2025: In a significant legal victory for Roma rights and child protection, the Bulgarian Supreme Administrative Court has repealed a discriminatory provision that had long penalised vulnerable families by delaying child support payments in cases where the State was responsible for the payment. The case was brought by the Equal Opportunities Initiative and the European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC).

Brussels, Budapest, 19 May 2025 – The Deputy Commissioner for Fundamental Rights and Ombudsperson for the Rights of National Minorities in Hungary, Dr. Erzsébet Szalayné Sándor, has confirmed systemic violations of the rights of Romani children in the Bűdi district of Tiszavasvári, Hungary, where Romani children are forced to walk up to 7 kilometres daily, often in harsh weather, to attend school due to the complete lack of transportation.